Welcome!
Note to Instructors: Be sure to check out the “Quick Guide to Cases” in the Resources tab to help plan your semester assignments. Also visit the Instructor’s Hub and use the Instructor’s Manual to get detailed materials to help you grade the case assignments and tips on coaching students through specific cases.
Until now, no single resource has existed to thoroughly address audience analytics in the digital era and the challenges confronting the field, using the broad data-driven approach outlined here. Media Analytics: Understanding Media, Audiences, & Consumers in the 21st Century takes a hands-on approach to teaching media analytics. Using the case-study method, the book discusses the problems media analysts examine and provides rich media datasets for readers to use in developing their skills. Making no assumptions about readers’ backgrounds in media, analytics, or statistics, the book begins with foundations: an introduction to the profession of media analytics, the media management concepts and foundations driving the usage of analytics, the research knowledge necessary to evaluate data quality, and best communication practices for analysts working with non-researchers.
The book then examines the use of analytics and measurement in different media sectors, giving readers flexibility in choosing their areas of interest. The text takes an evergreen approach to this fast-changing field, focusing on concepts and issues that remain constant, rather than the metric of the moment. It also explores in detail the personal privacy and ethical issues that shadow the profession. Each chapter concludes with discussion questions and exercises, and recommends cases and datasets on the companion website.
Instructors, be sure to check out our Quick Guide to Cases in the Resources tab to help you quickly scan cases and their benefits and help plan your semester! The case studies and datasets are the centerpiece of this text and are what will best prepare future media analysts. Strategic, critical thinking about 21st century media problems is central to this text. Readers are challenged to focus on those problems, and think about how they might use data to solve them. For instructors who have been yearning for access to real datasets and cases to teach analytics, this text delivers both.
Message to Students
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Do I need a statistics or advanced math background to use this book?
A: No statistical knowledge required here. If you can add, subtract, multiply, divide and calculate percentages, you’re all set. Being a media analyst is not about math. It’s about thinking, pattern and trend recognition, and storytelling. Media analytics isn’t about the numbers themselves—it’s about what they mean, and how, as effective media analysts, insights gained from these numbers can help their organizations make solid strategic decisions.
Q: Who is this text for? Are there any prerequisites for using this book?
A: No prior knowledge of media analytics or management is required or assumed. In fact, we cover many foundational concepts at the beginning of the text. While the text is best suited for upper-level undergraduates and graduate students, it can be used at nearly any level. Many practitioners will also find it a useful desk reference.
Q: I hear there’s a lot of change going on in media measurement and ratings/metrics companies. Should I use this book if the industry might be different a couple years from now?
A: Good news! We deliberately wrote this book with an “evergreen” approach to teaching media analytics specifically because the industry is always in flux. Realize that media measurement companies, metric names, and tools will change, even during this text’s lifespan. However, the fundamentals and principles will remain constant and that’s why we wrote the book the way we did. It provides the conceptual foundations that will remain constant, even as the industry evolves, and reminds students that it’s not about the numbers themselves—it’s about what they mean, and how, as effective media analysts, they can help their organizations make solid strategic decisions.
Q: Are there good jobs in media analytics? Is the pay good?
A: Yes and yes! There continues to be high demand for media analysts and data analysts of all kinds. Our world is awash in data, and it relies on these professionals to help make sense of it all, uncovering the opportunities, and helping solve media business puzzles. Pay varies based on experience level, of course, but many qualified media analysts enter the field earning in the $60K+ range, with more experienced analysts easily earning six figures. (Individual skill sets and geographic location affect these salary levels as well.)
Q: Is this text appropriate for students outside of the United States?
A: Absolutely! We wrote the text with our international audience in mind, because the media business is global. From the vocabulary to specific case studies, we think you’ll find this text has international and cross-cultural appeal.
